Full-time Firefighters
There are 11 fulltime stations in Dublin where fire fighters work a shift system of 9 hour days and 15 hour nights across 4 watches. Difficult to explain but approximately 3 days / nights on and 3 days / nights off and then back in again.This means that over the full 28 day cycle a firefighter works 7 days and 7 nights.

Retained Firefighters
Dublin has 4 retained stations in north County Dublin at Swords, Malahide, Skerries and Balbriggan. Retained firefighters are paid a yearly (per quarter) retaining fee as well as on a per call basis. Alerted for a fire call via pagers. They are usually self employed and live near the station as they need to turning out within 3 to 5 minutes. They train one one night a week for several hours.

Recruiting Process & General Advice
For new firefighters the Dublin City Council as the employer of Dublin Fire Brigade personnel  will advertise the positions in the local and national newspapers. You generally have one month to complete the application form. 2004 was the first year Dublin put the form completely online and this was the only way of submitting an application.
In order to have a good chance of finding out when they are advertising you should if possible have a number of people in the service keeping track of news / rumours!
Have friends, relatives constantly checking newspapers etc. and let them know that they should contact you if they see anything. 
From time to time telephone the human resources department of the Dublin City Council ask them when they are advertising next. Since recruitment only takes place every 2/3 years it would be unfortunate to miss the chance through not seeing it advertised.

The following is taken from the 2004 application form
General Requirements
1. CHARACTER:-

Candidates shall be of good character.

2. AGE:-
Candidates shall be at least 18 years of age on the latest date for the receipt of completed applications. Retirement age for firefighters is 55.

3. HEALTH:-

Candidates shall be in a state of health as determined by the City Council's Medical Advisor such as would indicate a reasonable prospect of ability to render regular and efficient service.

3.1 Candidates must comply with the following physical standards:-

Physical Capacity - have attained the level of fitness required to undertake all fire service duties.

Strength - be assessed by undertaking test of hand grip and leg/back pull strength on a load cell dynamometer. Candidates should have a handgrip strength of:

Dominant Hand - 35 kg or above;
Subordinate Hand - 33 kg or above;

and a leg/back pull strength of 117 kg or above;

Vision - (unaided) - 6/6 each eye;

Colour perception

Hearing - to the satisfaction of the City Council's Medical Advisor.

3.2 Candidates will be required to undergo a satisfactory Physical Examination which will be administered by Dublin Fire Brigade personnel.

3.3 In view of the nature of the duties of Firefighter, Firefighters may be required to undergo regular medical examinations during the course of their employment. In addition Firefighters shall if instructed report to the Medical Advisor as deemed appropriate.

4. Education:-

Each candidate must have obtained at least Grade D (or a pass) in five subjects, including Mathematics and English from the approved list of subjects in the Department of Education Intermediate, Junior or Group Certificate Examination or in an examination of at least equivalent standard.

5. Successful candidates will be required to hold a current full unendorsed Driving Licence - Category B prior to commencement of training. Candidates who do not meet this requirement or any of the requirements specified above will be required to forfeit their place on the panel.

Particulars of Employment (full-time)
1. REMUNERATION:-

Wage scale commencing at €387.94 per week and rising by annual increments to €640.54 per week

(€387.94 - €459.07- €502.86 - €546.89 - €590.64 - €604.61 - €640.54)

€667.07 per week after 11 years service
€697.13 per week after 17 years service

In addition to the basic wage scale, payments are made in respect of night and weekend duty and a rent allowance is also payable.

2. DUTIES:-

Successful candidates shall perform under the control and direction of the Chief Fire Officer and/or other appropriate supervisory officers of the Brigade, such firefighting/ambulance (including all aspects of driving) and fire prevention duties and station routines as may be assigned from time to time and may be required to serve in any Station from time to time as directed.

3. RESIDENCE AND SERVICE:-

While employed in the Fire Brigade successful candidates must reside within the area of the City or County of Dublin unless permission is given for special reasons to reside outside the City or County of Dublin and will be required to serve in any area of the City or County of Dublin or in the area of any other local authority with which the City Council has entered into an agreement.

4. TENURE:-

Successful candidates will be required to serve a probationary period of one year
(from commencement of training).

5. DISCIPLINE:-

Successful candidates will, before employment, be required to subscribe in writing to the conditions of the Dublin Fire Brigade Disciplinary Code.

6. TRAINING:-

Successful candidates will be required to undergo successfully an appropriate period of training at the Dublin Fire Brigade Training Centre. Successful candidates will also be required, during employment, to satisfactorily complete appropriate training courses, as directed from time to time.

7. RETIREMENT AGE:-

Persons employed will be required to retire on reaching the age of 55 years.

8. OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT:-

Employees recruited to the fire service shall not engage in any gainful occupation which would impair the performance of their duties as a firefighter or in any occupation which might conflict with the interests of Dublin City Council as a fire authority or which might be inconsistent with the discharge of their duties as a firefighter.

9. The Local Authority shall require persons to whom employment is offered to take up such employment within a period of not more than one month and if he/she fails to take up the employment within such period or such longer period as the Local Authority in its absolute discretion may determine, the Local Authority shall not employ him/her.

10. RECRUITMENT:-

Applicants who are found to be ineligible at any stage of the competition will not be further considered. Provision of inaccurate, untrue or misleading information will lead to disqualification from the competition, withdrawal of employment offer or dismissal.

(a) Subject to the foregoing, applicants will be required by Dublin City Council to attend a test session at a time and date specfied. The Tests used will measure a range of skills deemed necessary for effective performance in the Firefighter role. Successful candidates will be called forward to the next stage of the selection process which will comprise of an interview and team exercise.

(b) A panel will be formed on the basis of candidates performance in the Interview and Team exercise. Candidates who are placed on a panel and who satisfy the Local Authority that they possess the qualifications declared for the office and that they are otherwise suitable for appointment may within the life of the panel be appointed as appropriate vacancies arise.

Dublin City Council will not be responsible for any expenses incurred by candidates in attending for any test or interview in connection with this competition.

The selected candidates will be required to satisfy Dublin City Council that they possess the prescribed qualifications. Any offer of employment, as Firefighter, by Dublin City Council is subject to the following:
¨ verification of educational qualifications
¨ receipt of original birth certificate
¨ receipt of satisfactory character references from employers
¨ receipt of satisfactory Security Clearance from the Department of Justice
¨ receipt of satisfactory medical examination report from Dublin City Council's Medical Advisor.

¨ receipt of satisfactory physical examination report from Dublin Fire Brigade
¨ verification of full unendorsed Driving Licence - category B

PENSION SCHEME:-

Persons who become pensionable employees of a local authority who are liable to pay the Class A rate of PRSI contribution will be required in respect of their superannuation to contribute to the local authority main scheme at the rate of 1.5% of their pensionable remuneration plus 3.5% of net pensionable remuneration (i.e. pensionable remuneration less twice the annual rate of social insurance old age contributory pension payable at the maximum rate to a person with no adult dependant or qualified children.) They will also be required in respect of of the Local Government Spouses' and Childrens' Contributory Pension Scheme to contribute to the Local Authority at the rate of 1.5% of net pensionable remuneration (i.e. pensionable remuneration less twice the annual rate of social insurance old age contributory pension payable at the maximum rate to a person with no adult
dependant or qualified children.)

Persons who become registered employees of a local authority who are liable to pay the Class D rate of PRSI contribution will be required in respect of their superannuation to contribute to the local authority at the rate of 5% of their pensionable remuneration. They will also be required in respect of the Local Government Spouses' and Childrens' Contributory Pension Scheme to contribute to the Local Authority at the rate of 1.5% of their pensionable remuneration in accordance with the terms of the scheme.

NOTE:-

The final decision in any dispute in relation to initial eligibility or continued eligibility at any stage of the competition shall be determined by Dublin City Council.

Applications will only be accepted on - line at www.publicjobs.ie However, should any difficulties be experienced in accessing the website, applicants may call to the Careers Store at the Office of the Civic Service and Local Appointments Commissioners, Chapter House, 26-30 Abbey Street Upper, Dublin 1 to make application or contact the office on the numbers below:
01 8587859/01 8587473

The closing date for applying for the position of Fire Fighter is Friday, 5th December, 2003 at 5.30pm.

Dublin City Council reserves its right to shortlist candidates in the manner it deems most appropriate.

V J Norton
Executive Manager

11th November, 2003

Dublin City Council is an equal opportunities employer.

Any attempt by a candidate, or by any person(s) acting at the candidate's instigation, directly or indirectly, by means of written communication or otherwise to influence in the candidate's favour, any member of the staff of the City Council or person nominated by the City Council to interview or examine applicants, will automatically disqualify the candidate for the position being sought.

General advice.
Firefighting by its very nature is a dangerous job requiring responsibility and commitment to both your colleagues and the public. Both the lives of the people you are rescuing and your colleagues whom you may be backing up, depend on you doing a good job.
 

The Aptitude test.
This varies from year to year however several factors remain the same.  Usually the tests are speed and accuracy based, using word association, numerical ability, spatial relationships and mechanical reasoning. These are only difficult if you don't practice. It is not how many questions you get done, it is how many questions you get done correctly in the time allowed.
The 2004 application process had a set of tests which included a number of 1 minute video observational tests as well as comprehension from a short lecture given on video.
A team exercise involved talking about and discussing a subject chosen at random from a set of cards.

The Personality profile
This was introduced by Dublin Corporation for the recruit selection process in January 2001.
It consisted of 144 questions with five possible choices of answer from strongly disagree to strongly agree. There are about 30 different questions which are repeated in a number of ways in order to assess the consistency of the answers the individual gives.

The Interview
There are plenty of good books regarding interviews so check them out. The panel will ask you questions on any previous experience such as teamwork ,skills related experience etc. If you have some don't be afraid to talk about it in a positive way as it will lead to more questions from the interviewers showing you up in a good light hopefully and keeping them away from any negative questions.
If the interview is broken down into sections e.g. teamwork, communications, decision making etc. then have examples of those areas from your past experiences ready to discuss with the interviewers.E.g. if you worked with other people then was it teamwork and how did you contribute etc.Rule number one is no spoofing if you don't know say so. Remember if you can't be trusted in an interview they are hardly likely to recommend you for the job. Speak up and project confidence, and be ready to answer as to why you want this job and why it should go to you.
The above advice is mainly targeted to the fulltime service as there are a lot more people competing for the available positions. The retained service requires that crews live and work within a short distance of the station so that it will only take minutes for them to respond. This obviously cuts down on the number of people applying.

Tests
Beside the strength tests which are mentioned above there are other tests which you may be given to assess your suitability. One of these is the height test which may be climbing a 13.5M ladder or similar taking a leg lock and leaning back with both arms outstretched.A second one is for confined spaces where a blacked out breathing apparatus mask without the set is placed on your head and you are sent through a series of narrow tunnels.

Good luck.